Huisun Hong
Young Artist Competition Winner
Huisun Hong, 17, is a senior at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, California. He began playing the cello at the age of eight and currently studies under Eric Sung at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Pre-College Division. Huisun is the principal cellist of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and has been a member since 2021. In 2024, he was the runner-up in the orchestra’s concerto competition and had the honor of representing the youth orchestra at a performance for the donors and sponsors of the Pierre Monteux Society at the San Francisco Towers.
A 2024 National YoungArts Winner and the 2024 MTNA California State competition prize winner, Huisun has also performed as a soloist with the Palo Alto Philharmonic. In the upcoming season, he is looking forward to performing with the Cambrian Symphony. Huisun has won top prizes at numerous competitions including the KAMSA Competition, Burlingame Music Club’s Young Artists Competition, the Etude Club of Berkeley’s Young Artist Competition, the Pacific Music Society Competition and the US International Music Competition. Additionally, he was invited to perform at the Junior Bach Festivals in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
As an avid chamber musician, Huisun plays in the Aves Trio as part of the Young Chamber Musicians program. In 2024, the trio won first and grand prize at the 11th Coltman National Chamber Music Competition, for which they were invited to perform in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Young Musicians Concert in New York in the spring of 2025. The Aves Trio also won first prize in the ENKOR Int’l Music Competition and MTAC VOCE State Competitions.
Huisun has had the privilege to have lessons and master classes under many renowned cellists, including Laurence Lesser, Andres Diaz, Paul Katz, Clara Kim, Hans Jensen, Lluis Claret, Steven Doane, and Zvi Plesser. He has participated in several summer music programs over the years including the Bowdoin International Music Festival, NYO2, Encore Chamber Music, and NYO-USA. This past summer, Huisun attended the Morningside Music Bridge program, an international scholarship program for gifted artists in Boston, MA. Recently, he has been chosen as a learning and media lab fellow for NPR’s From the Top, and will be featured on its radio show as a part of the Aves Trio.
